March to martial law? Undercover Special Forces to sweep US Southwest

As elite branches of the US military prepare to hold military training in seven southwest states, with some troops operating incognito among civilians, some Americans fear the training is actually preparation for imposing martial law.

Operation Jade Helm, which is scheduled to kick off in July and
run for eight weeks, will involve the participation of 1,200
troops from the US military’s most elite fighting forces,
including Green Berets, Navy SEALS and Special Operations from
the Air Force and Marines.

The troops will be participating in what has been called
Realistic Military Training in towns in Arizona, California,
Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas and Utah.

In an effort to simulate the type of battlefield conditions
soldiers may face in foreign countries, the US military has
designated the remote training areas where they will operate as
in a “hostile" territory, a description that has irked
some residents.

Meanwhile, Texans living in close proximity to the operation will
be asked to report any “suspicious activity” during the
exercise, a request that seems to contradict the belief laid out
in the US military training document, leaked by The Houston Chronicle, that Texans
are “historically supportive” of military efforts to
“fight the enemies of the United States.”

The training exercise, according to Shadow Spear, a publication
of USASOC, “will be conducted on private and public land with
the permission of the private landowners, and from state and
local authorities.”

“The most noticeable effect the exercise may have on the
local communities is an increase in vehicle and military air
traffic and its associated noise,” Shadow Spear said.

Army Special Operation Command spokesman Mark Lastoria attempted
to allay fears that the training is a actually an effort on the
part of the military to practice “covert warfare tactics and
martial law.” He said the domestic military operations are
designed to develop "emerging concepts in special operations
warfare," and were not part of some kind of dark plans to
take over the United States.

“That notion was proposed by a few individuals who are
unfamiliar with how and why USASOC conducts training
exercises,” he told Stripes, a US Army publication.
“This exercise is routine training to maintain a high level
of readiness for Army Special Operations Forces because they must
be ready to support potential missions anywhere in the world on a
moment’s notice.”

Paul Pape, a Bastrop County judge, also downplayed fears that the
domestic military training was in reality rehearsal for
full-blown martial law on the streets of America following some
sort of major catastrophe.

“What I see here is an opportunity for a portion of our
military to be better prepared and better trained to do work that
has to be done to secure America’s interests around the world and
here at home,” Pape told KEYE television in Austin, Texas.

The explanations given for the training, however, has not stopped
fierce speculation among a number of citizen groups and
alternative media sites as to why the entire states of Texas and
Utah, as well as a section of southern California, have been
declared “hostile,” while portions of the military
detachment will be operating in the shadows of communities.

“They're having Delta Force, Navy SEALS with the Army trained
to basically take over,” Info Wars' Alex Jones railed
Sunday. “Texas is listed as a hostile sector, and of course,
we are... here defending the republic.”

This is not the first time that American urban areas have served
as the training areas for US forces.

In December 2014, Americans were unsettled by the spectacle of US
Special Forces black helicopters buzzing the skylines of
major US cities, including Dallas and Los Angeles, part of what
it described as training in “realistic urban sites.”

Now, the Special Forces boots will be on the ground in cities and
towns across the country, and that has some people asking a lot
of questions.